Hayward Airport Open Day

Hayward "Executive" Airport, as it likes to call itself, had a Open Day last weekend, their first since 2019 for some reason. In addition to the various 'planes on display (see below), they reached out to several local car clubs to add to the display, including BAMA. The jewel in the crown of our cars was the '68, making it's first car show appearance since Ponies and Snakes 2009. 

One of the best display pieces was an original Huey that saw action in Vietnam. By taking these photos, we contributed to the cost of keeping it operational.

Anyone want to fly on a Bomber? 

Surely the original pimps motor ?

 

Getting Serious in the Workshop

I've wanted a really nice table saw - well, a cabinet saw actually - for a long time.  Finally I have the space, the 220 V outlet and the green backs. Or I did have, before I exchanged the latter for the SawStop™ ten (10) inch 3.0 HP Professional Model with the 36 inch fence. (See the full spec here). This is what (most of) the saw looks like when packed and palletized. 

After unpacking, adding the cast iron wings and mounting the control box and motor cover the saw looks like this:

So far so good, but this is when I discovered I was missing the 36 inch rails. Not the easiest thing to mislay, as you can see from the photo below. The main reason I use the online retailer in the link above is because of their post-order service, so I was only without the rails for a few days.

This is later after I have added the rails, the extension table, and cut my first timber. I love my new cabinet saw!

This photo is from further away; you can see the dust extractor in the background.

There was a very satisfying quantity of dust in the extractor bag after the first few cuts:

We actually acquired the dust extractor a few months ago. We bought it as part of job lot that also included a band saw, a bench-top planer and a jointer. Basically we ran across a deal that we could not refuse. I've been waiting until the cabinet saw was up and running before getting the rest of this kit organized. The band saw is going to live in the basement next to the steps/storage platform. In this location it can be connected to the dust extractor and the 220 V circuit. The band saw is on wheels, so it can be moved away from the walls if we need to cut large workpieces.

The jointer is also on wheels. We don't anticipate using this tool very much to start with. I will have to extend the dust extraction system into the other half of the workshop before we can get it up and running.

Stay tuned to see what we can build from our first few sheets of plywood now that we have all the big boys kit!

Mustang Running Again

Installing the replacement transmission was a fight, but it was definitely one that was worth winning. Just getting the tranny into roughly the right place under the car was hard enough. I ended up tying it to a scrap piece of 2" x 8" lumber so I had something flat to lift with the floor jack. 

After much wiggling and wrangling, I was able get the transmission to within a quarter of an inch from where it was supposed to be - I just could not get it to slide all the way in (!) close the gap to the bell housing:

Eventually, after much pushing, pulling, swearing and banging my head on various bits of the car, I broke the golden rule and used the bolts to bring the transmission into it's final position. I was careful to tighten the bolts gradually, and keep rotating from one to the next. This process was very successful - there was basically no resistance to installing the bolts. But, all in all, it took most of a day to accomplish this operation.

The next weekend I re-installed the driveshaft and the park brake cables and adjusted the clutch. After that I put the car back on the floor and, with the transmission level, filled it up with ATF. Hopefully this will prevent future seizures. With that done, I test drove the car 10 feet out onto the driveway. Even after sitting for the best part of a year the engine started up right away! 

I flushed the radiator/cooling system while I had the car outside, and then I tested reverse gear by returning it to the garage. I am planning to take the 68 to a show at Hayward Airport next weekend. Before that, I have some very serious cleaning to do.